Huntsville gazette., 1887-11-19
IN THE DENVER.STAGE.
Captain Cummings Tells the Story
of a Midnight Murder.

Ten years ago the excitement Of the
day in Denver reached its climax when
Captain Bill Cummings drove the
Leadville coach out of the stable-yard
and pulled up. in front of the United
States Hotel. In anticipation of the
great daily event, a crowd always be-
gan to gather an hour or two before
the time set for the stages departure.
To pass the time pleasantly, the crowd,
all of whom wore big slouch hats and
carried pistols, speculated on the
chances of the stages getting to it's
destination, and told wild stories of the
last time Captain Bill had been ''held
up'' and how much the express COM
pany had lost when the highwaymen
broke open the box after killing the
messenger.
A short time ago, while in Denver,
/ was taken to the stable and shown
the old stage. 1t is not much to look
at now. The paint has been worn oft
the sides, and the leather curtains,
which used to be neatly rolled up, now
hang down and mournfully flap in the
wind. While / stood looking at the
old stage and trying to imagine some
of the scenes through which it had
passed, the stable door opened and an
old man entered. After / had seen
the look of affection which he cast at
the old stage l was not surprised when
my friend introduced him as Captain
Bill Cummings, the famous driver. At
first Cummings seemed disinclined to
talk, and appeared to think that my
questions were prompted solely by idle
curiosity, but after awhile he relented.
He climbed up to his old place on the
box, where he had passed through so
many dangers, and after politely wav-
ing my friend and myself to couple
of empty barrels, which stood in one
corner of the stable, he began to talk.
.sYes," he said, 'this old stage has
seen many fight, and been through
lots of dangers, but the toughest time
it ever had was in '76 and III. In
those days the hills between here and
Leadville were infested by the worst
gang of stage-robbers that were ever
known in this region. 1t was not that
they were any worse than other gangs,
but they were under the leadership Of
a man whose devilish cunning was
such that it seemed impossible to cor
ner him or even to find out exactly who
l. II t,iol ~ oftan
however, and when his identity was
made known after his death it turned
the whole city of Denver upside down
for week. There was at that time q
business house on Laramie street,
where all the miners went to get their
supplies. The head of it was one Of
our most enterprising citizens. and was
generally respected and looked up to.
His name was Amos Y. Townsend. 1t
had been reported that some of the
stage robbers had been heard to call
their leader Amos, but no one ever
dreamt of connecting the famous des-
perado and the respected merchant to-
gether. One night just before the stage
was to leave Denver, | was taken aside
bv friend and was told to take partic-
ular care, as one of my passengers was
going to Leadville to purchase some
mining properties, and had small for
tune in his belt. The would-be mine
owner was pointed out to me. He was
young fellow with a quiet, deter
mined appearance, who seemed well
able to take care of himself. Besides
him there was only one other inside
passenger, whom l took to be a tender
foot from his nervous manner and the
absence of any weapons about him.
The two express guards and myself
were the only ones outside. AS we
were driving down Laramie street |
happened to see Mr.. Townsend stand
ing near the store, and / saw him nod
to some one inside, but took it to be a
passing farewell to the young man who
was going to buy the mines l had not
much to say to my passengers, and l
took them to be about as unsociable a
lot as | had ever carried. Each seemed
to attend strictly to his own business,
and it was only at long intervals that
heard their voices as they talked to
each other.
ION the evening of the second day
day we had got well into the moHot-
alAe and whea We drove up ta baHss